My fiance ordered his free credit report today, and found that his mother has opened several credit cards and utilities in his name and they have been sent to collections. He is going to call the credit reporting companies so that nothing can be opened in his name from now on without his permission, but what can be done for the items already in collection that are negatively affecting his credit report?

One was with PECO, I really don't understand how she could open that without him. He was in the Marines at the time and deployed in Afghanistan when the account was opened, so he can prove he wasn't here. He tried to call PECO today but had to go to work before he reached anyone, and will try to call tomorrow to see what they say. This is a sticky situation since he does not want to ruin his relationship with his mother; he just wants it off his credit. Is there anything that can be done by him or his mother (if she is willing) or will he need a lawyer? He called one of the collection agencies and they said they couldn't do anything. I would appreciate any advice/input if anyone knows someone who has gone through a similar situation.

If he was deployed, his mother probably had power-of-attorney. I'm pretty sure that his means she can legally open credit cards, get utilities and whatnot in his absence. Normally deployed service persons defer POA to spouses or parents, but in a limited capacity.

I realize that it's his mom, but what she did sucks and he should file a criminal report.

I have POA when my husband is deployed. You can bet I'd come home to divorce papers if I pulled that crap.

As a vet, he should be able to get legal counsel benefits. He should contact veterans affairs. This is hardly the first time something like this has happened.

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Thanks GMonkey, I will tell him to contact VA to see if there is anything they can help with. He does not believe that his mother had power of attorney when he was deployed. It's such a shame that its his mother and she never told him about any of this.

Does anyone know if he should try to dispute the items through the credit agency or put a fraud alert, or would that result in his mother possibly being charged?

I am really sorry and I know it completely sucks... and I hate to possibly bring you more bad news.

If he wants peco (or any other creditor) to remove accounts he feels were fraudulently opened under his name, he will most likely have to file a police report against his mother. I am sorry to say, but it basically comes down to identity theft. If he wants to fix this by asking the companies to just "forgive" the amount against him, they will want to pursue it thru other legal avenue. They won't forgive the debt out of the kindness of their hearts. Especially when they know the person who fraudulently got their goods and/or services is being protected by the "victim".

I think, if he wants to handle this w/o the law, he needs to have a very serious conversation with his mother.

If he does not want this to hit his mom, I wouldn't push it with the creditors. I deal with charge backs (when you call you cc to dispute a charge appearing on your statement) at the company I am currently with. When a credit company sends me paperwork that one of their customers is disputing our charge to them and then I find out that it is their gf/bf/wife/husband/daughter/son/etc, both I & the bank ask next, "did you give them your credit card info at anytime?" If they say yes, most banks will drop the issue then and let the charge stand. At the point the offending person is identified, the bank and I will only refund the money if a legal affidavits of fraud is filled out and then filed with the police.

I know it sucks, but you have to look at it like this, his mom received a lot of services/goods by using (and ruining) his name/credit (most likely cause she already ruined her's). Why should the creditor or company eat the cost while his mother got to enjoy the goods/service? I bet most of the places she did this, she already owes money under her own name.

Basically the same thing happened between my dad and his first wife. Back then, you didn't need a POA to open credit in your husband's name. She racked up over $60K in debt! The only way that my dad could get the creditors to remove the accounts was if he filed a police report. He was in the process of divorcing her, and she would have ended up in jail, and his stepdaughter would have been a ward of the court. He declared bankruptcy instead.

This is why your guy needs to speak with legal affairs with the VA immediately.

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This definitely needs to happen, but what would she be able to do. Even if she starts making payments, would she have the ability to say they are really her debts and have them moved off of his credit and onto hers?

Thank you for all the replies.

I don't know what they will do for sure, but I am thinking how I would handle this at my office.

I am betting she opened the accounts in his name because she has already defaulted on accounts with those same companies (especially the utilities). If she has old debt in her own name and then incurred more in her son's, I would be less sympathy & open to negotiation, simply because I would have little faith that I would see any money.

Being with a smaller company, I would work with him to keep it out of collections, even if it had to remain in his name. But I would kick it to collections if payments were missed. I know it sounds cold, but if you saw how many people just don't pay their bills you start to get a thick skin.

My suggestion, so he can be sure his credit is being repaired, he make the payments to the companies in questions. He should have a written agreement of a loan (equal to the amount of the debt he must repay + a reasonable amount of interest) and she should repay it directly to him. I suggest this because even if she misses a payment to him, he is still paying the creditor on time. This puts the power of repairing his credit in his hands. If she defaults on their documented loan, he then can decide to pursue it legally and take her to small claims for the loan between them (and now is not credit card fraud/identity theft).

Thanks for the suggestions. I definitely believe she opened accounts in his name because she was unable to do so in her own name. He is going to try to talk to her today and hopefully she will be remorseful and willing to make payments. The problem is she lives paycheck to paycheck and is constantly borrowing money from people. The total amount is almost $8k and is not an amount he wants to pay on her behalf. Hopefully she will be willing to help since this is all a result of her actions.

Unfortunately it may not matter unless he is willing to press charges. If he doesn't, it is pretty much 100% his debt to deal with and repair.

Sad part is, if she was willing to do this to her son while he was serving his country and on the eve of beginning a new life with you, she has most likely done it to others.